An influx of international tourists could be six months away, as the federal government limits overseas arrivals mainly to returning Australian residents, working visa holders and international students.
While the tourism industry has welcomed the Queensland government’s decision to allow quarantine-free international travel into the Sunshine State from Saturday, the pathway to foreign tourists flocking to holiday hotspots such as Cairns and the Gold Coast will seem like an eternity to long-suffering operators.
Uncertainty over the omicron COVID-19 variant has also dashed plans that a full reopening of Australia’s borders could be on the cards by Easter.
A gradual reopening of the international borders is more likely to proceed with further agreements with certain countries, such as those that have already been struck with Singapore, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand.
But potential tourists from those four countries are mostly required to undertake two weeks’ quarantine upon returning home – not exactly encouraging people to jump on a plane to Australia.
This week the United States also warned against travel to Australia, which is in the middle of its worst COVID-19 outbreak since the start of the pandemic.
Federal Tourism Minister Dan Tehan said any decision on the return of international tourists would be based on health advice.
“Already tourists from Singapore, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea are able to travel to Australia,” he said.
“International tourists will be very excited to travel to Australia again when the health advice says that it is safe to do so, and this will give businesses and the economy a boost.
“I want to see international tourists back travelling to our wonderful country as soon as possible.”
Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said the Australian Border Force, on behalf of the federal government, was still in control of who came into the country.
“We are very happy about the announcement of quarantine-free international arrivals to Queensland from Saturday – and we hope there is an influx of working holiday visas and international students – but tourists are unlikely to arrive into Queensland any time soon,” he said.
“This just brings Queensland in line with NSW and Victoria. Hopefully, sooner rather than later we will have quarantine-free international tourists.”
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